Shoulder
Rotator cuff disease
Rotator cuff disease is assessed with shoulder-specific patient-reported outcome measures, chosen according to whether fine discrimination or brevity matters more.
What you are actually deciding
The Simple Shoulder Test is fastest but ceilings early. The SPADI separates pain from disability. The Constant score adds measured range and strength, which is useful when objective change matters but requires the patient in front of you.
Patient-reported outcome measure6
- ASES Score11 itemsAmerican Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form — patient self-report sectionThe ASES score is a patient-reported shoulder index running from 0 to 100 in which a single 0–10 pain rating supplies 50 points and ten activities of daily living rated 0–3 supply the other 50, so that 100 represents a pain-free shoulder with no functional difficulty.
- KJOC Calculator10 itemsKerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow ScoreThe KJOC Shoulder and Elbow Score is a 10-item patient-reported questionnaire for overhead athletes — throwers, tennis players, swimmers — in which each item is rated 0 to 10 and the sum out of 100 describes how well the arm lets them compete, with a higher score meaning better function.
- Oxford Shoulder Score12 itemsOxford Shoulder ScoreThe Oxford Shoulder Score is a 12-item patient-reported questionnaire about shoulder pain and everyday function over the past four weeks, each item scored 0 to 4 and summed to a total of 0 to 48 in which 48 represents the best possible shoulder — it is licensed by Oxford University Innovation, so the item wording is not reproduced here.
- QuickDASH Calculator11 itemsQuick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and HandThe QuickDASH is an 11-item shortened form of the DASH that measures physical function and symptoms across the whole upper limb on a single 0 to 100 scale, where a higher score means greater disability.
- SPADI Calculator13 itemsShoulder Pain and Disability IndexThe SPADI is a 13-item patient-reported questionnaire that measures shoulder pain and disability over the past week on two subscales — 5 pain items and 8 disability items — each rated 0–10 and transformed to a 0–100% score in which a higher score means more pain and greater disability.
- SST Calculator12 itemsSimple Shoulder TestThe Simple Shoulder Test asks twelve yes-or-no questions about everyday shoulder functions and scores the number answered yes, giving a total from 0 to 12 where 12 means all twelve functions are retained.
Clinical calculator2
- Constant Score Calculator10 itemsConstant-Murley Shoulder ScoreThe Constant-Murley score is a 100-point clinician-administered shoulder assessment combining 35 subjective points for pain and daily activities with 65 objective points for measured range of motion and abduction strength, where 100 represents a normal, pain-free shoulder.
- UCLA Shoulder Score Calculator5 itemsUniversity of California at Los Angeles Shoulder Rating ScaleThe UCLA Shoulder Rating Scale is a 35-point shoulder assessment scoring pain and function out of 10 each, active forward flexion and forward-flexion strength out of 5 each, and patient satisfaction as either 0 or 5, where a higher total is better and 34–35 is graded excellent.
Thresholds that apply here
Published change thresholds across the instruments above. Check the population matches your patient before using a value — a threshold derived in a different cohort will mislead you.
| Instrument | Type | Value | Subscale | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASES Score | MCID | 6.4 points | — | Patients with shoulder pain of mixed cause receiving outpatient physical therapy |
| ASES Score | MCID | 12.0 to 17.0 points | — | Rotator cuff disease treated nonoperatively |
| Constant Score | MCID | 10.4 points | — | Patients undergoing rotator cuff surgery |
| QuickDASH | MCID | 8 points | — | Upper limb musculoskeletal disorders |
| QuickDASH | MDC | 11.2 points | — | Upper limb musculoskeletal disorders |
| QuickDASH | MCID | 15.91 points | — | Shoulder pain, physiotherapy |
| QuickDASH | MCID | ~14 points | — | Rotator cuff repair |
| SPADI | MCID | 8–13.2 points | — | Mixed shoulder pathology in orthopaedic and physiotherapy outpatients |
| SPADI | MDC | Approximately 18 points (90% confidence) | — | Patients with shoulder pain, stable between assessments |
| SPADI | MCID | 13.2 points | — | Shoulder pain managed in primary care and physiotherapy |
| SST | MCID | 2 points | — | Rotator cuff disease and shoulder arthroplasty |
| SST | MCID | 2.05 points | — | Total shoulder arthroplasty |
| SST | SCB | 4.1 points | — | Total shoulder arthroplasty |
| SST | MDC | 2.8 points | — | Rotator cuff disease |
See the full threshold database for every instrument on the site.